Equiribius
by Hellbat Schilt
Summary: What if the heroes X and Zero had never defeated Weil? What if the Dark Elf died with Omega? What if Weil wasn't destructive, but preferred to keep humanity under his thumb? Frustrated, Ikiru follows the dictates of society. No one can object to Weil's rule, but that's no concern. As long as he's fed and taken care of, nothing matters... or does it?


Broken... shattered... That's what they were... Their will to continue living diminishing by the second. They were alone... They never had brought in soldiers. Those were reserved for the war scattered all over the face of the continent known to them as Japan. No... they were alone... and they had lost.

The large knight robot loomed overhead, robotic fluid dripping from the large purple sword it wielded. No strikes had managed to damage it heavily, despite the best efforts of the duo. It grumbled something, its voice incapable of speech. Throughout the battle, it hadn't uttered a single understandable word.

The red robot panted heavily, watching the knight through one disheartened eye, the other destroyed by some shrapnel. They had lost...

_But... maybe there's still hope..._

"X..." he muttered, calling on the blue robot that was on his hands and knees by his side and crying softly. This red reploid, Zero, nodded. If he himself wasn't so emotionless, he would've cried alongside his friend whom he had known for so long. "X... we've still got one chance..."

X, however, shook his head. "It's over, Zero... All that work, and barely a scratch..." He pounded the ground with his fist. "It's over! We lost!"

Zero looked back to the knight and frowned at its hidden face. "We haven't lost until we're both broken and limp on the ground, X." He turned his head back to X, grinning slightly. "That's what we've always stood for. Think about what we fighting for, X..." X met his gaze with despair. Zero frowned and walked over to his companion, letting the giant robot exult in their despair.

He picked X up roughly by the arm, dragging him to his feet. "X! Listen to me! We're fighting for a cause! Doctor Weil and Omega," he pointed at the knight-like robot, "aren't." He drew in close, scowling. "And if X doesn't believe in that anymore, then what were you doing in the Maverick Hunters in the first place?"

X's chest heaved as he exhaled and his face turned away, staring off into the distance, over the broken, rocky terrain. He remained silent. Zero's shoulders drooped and his hand slowly released its hold on X's arm. _Maybe he doesn't know after all..._

X finally spoke. "I don't know..." he whispered. Zero growled.

"X, if you don't help me, we _won't_ have a chance!"

His gaze was intense, staring determinedly at his disheartened companion. X turned back and met his gaze. Just for a moment, there was a faint glimmer of hope, something that only being in the pits of despair could conjure. X grinned.

"Then let's do this," X said, equipping his Mark-III buster. Zero stood still for a minute, a warmth growing in his chest.

_It's all or nothing..._ he thought, activating the sword he held in his hand.

They turned, staring up at the bulk of the knight. Fires burned in the distance, reploids lay dead in distant battlefields. Humans lay dead in their cities. Slaughtered... all slaughtered... All done by this monstrosity and the man that had made it.

"_Final..._" the two yelled in unison.

X's gun overcharged and Zero readied his generator and mind for the final attack that would ultimately consume them both. The beast looked down at them, a soft growl emitting from it. It reared its sword, ready to deal the final blow.

"_Strike!_"

The light from X's weapon nearly blinded Zero as it burst to life, its loud blast mostly muting X's scream of pain. Zero leapt towards the stumbling Omega, channeling all of the energy into his sword. Already, he was beginning to fade. His hand felt numb. In fact, he couldn't feel the pain from his burning generator.

Neither of them had planned to live.

He cut deep into the large robot's side, severing internal structures and wiring. The creature roared and reared, falling over backwards onto its back as fluids spilled freely from the open wound. Zero landed clumsily, the numbness affecting his balance.

But Omega was defeated.

Zero chuckled, hunched over as fluids dripped from his mouth. The light began to dim and the edges of his vision became blurry. He took a step forward and stumbled, his robotic reflexes being the only thing that allowed him to remain on his feet. He cursed, feeling numb all over and sluggish.

X was already dead, he was certain of that. X would've followed him... To death, he followed...

He finally fell to his knees, falling into a soft patch of sand. Red lines filtered through his vision. He rubbed his eyes, including the one that was just a socket, trying to make everything better. Taking one last look at the destruction around him, he then fell to his hands.

"I'm dying, Iris," he said. He chuckled quietly, feeling his mind disconnecting slowly. "This time, I don't think I'll make it."

"No you won't."

A chill flowed down Zero's spine, the only thing that could overpower the numb feeling in him. That voice...

"Weil..." he muttered, clenching his hand. He couldn't see the cyborg. Weil was behind him, he could tell that much.

"I came back to report that everything has been successfully conquered. Everything will go according to plan."

Zero took a deep, angry breath. _No, this isn't happening! _he thought to himself. _All that work... wasted..._

He struggled to rise to his feet, but couldn't. Instead, he only weakened, his face impacting into the sand that had lost its texture. "You're..." he said, coughing more fluids into the sand. "Supposed to be dead..."

Weil remained silent.

"Talk, damn it!" Zero yelled. He got the feeling that Weil was taking in the moment: Two heroes fallen, the humans and reploids conquered, and only one major helper had been slain... All could go as Weil had planned. Weil's words summed everything up.

"I..._ win_!"


End file.
